Oman can increase its proven oil reserves by four billion barrels to a total of nine billion barrels and still be producing crude in 50 years from now, the sultanate's oil and gas minister said Monday, July 2.

"Using today's technology, we are confident that we can increase this by another four billion barrels," Mohammed bin Hamad al-Romhi said on the website of the bimonthly Oman Economic Review.

Until now, Oman's proven reserves of just over five billion barrels were expected to run dry around 2017.

"My message is, 50 years from today we will still be producing oil", revealed Romhi, who briefed Sultan Qaboos on the development in June.

From a total oil resource base of 50 billion barrels, Oman has produced 6.1 billion barrels or 12 percent, to date. Production of a further nine billion barrels would take total recovery to just over 30 percent, said the minister whose country is an independent producer of around 900,000 barrels of crude per day.

He said Oman's aim was to recover 50 percent of its total oil resource. "If that could be achieved, the Sultanate's current reserves would swell to 19 billion barrels", the minister said, who was confident that new oil fields would also be discovered in Oman.